That's not what I said. In the US, like in every "wealthiest nation on earth" to date, there are and have always been those who do not get to share in the wealth, at least not enough that they can afford to not work to death. I don't know of any time or place in human history where the poorest of the community don't meet this condition, and in that way the US is not special. It is also not special in succumbing to rising wealth inequality, as the wealthy use their power to circumvent laws, self-deal, and extract wealth from the earth and their fellow humans with increasing efficiency. That shit happens all the time.

The US has a few special circumstances which make it feel different: one, it's happening now and not in history books, two, it's larger (in economic hegemony) than any empire in recorded history, and three, the middle class (i.e. people who were not rich but did not have to work literally their whole lives) are currently being demoted to being mandatory-perpetual-labor poor, which for many of them means they are becoming aware of the problem for the first time in their lives.

The fact that this shit has been going on forever doesn't make it less dire, but it doesn't mean the US is special in this regard, or that it hasn't been happening for the whole of US history or human history. It's just more salient to more Americans now compared to, say, two or three decades ago.